[Closed] Removing an internal wall?

what's upstairs?

I have/had on like that in the dinign room that was in-line with the beams, but supported the cold water header tank all the way up to the loft.

Stoner - I'm assuming you mean directly in line with it?
Nothing. Maybe a partition wall that forms the built in wardrobe in our bedroom, but that's it.

No tanks at all in the loft

Nothing. Maybe a partition wall that forms the built in wardrobe in our bedroom,but that's it

See my post above.... the tank supporting wall went through the wardrobe as well..... 😉

EDIT: Sneaky edit PP! It may be the tank has been removed - do you have a combi boiler where there once was a back boiler?

You sure its not a pier that runs up into the roof doing something useful up there?

beer + hammer + making sure the wife isnt getting home until its too late to repair the damage.

The only way to be totally sure is to remove the ceiling next to it and physically make sure nothing is resting on it.

From your description its probably fine to remove but thats what I would do to be sure

Can we have before & after photos please?

Lift the boards upstairs & have a look

Whats the worst that could happen?

Whatever happens don't blame me!!

Firstly its a tradesmans job, and there are a lot of us having little work due to the DIY band out there.

STOP!

STOP!

Hammer time?

der der de de, derrr de

Firstly its a tradesmans job,

pffftttt.

Its not black magic. A bit of investigation, some common sense*, maybe an accro prop and strongboy on hire just in case, and then away you go.

* limited quantities are available

Thanks thepurist Just spat my tea over my keyboard!!!

When we moved in, right next to this stub of wall in the ceiling on the kitchen side, was a big flue for the old floorstanding boiler that would have been in the kitchen in the corner. It went right through my wardrobe and out of the roof.
Knowing what we had planned for the future we had this flue removed. At the same time the wardrobe was reconstructed becasue of the extra space left by the flue.
So, The wall directly above this stub wall is partition, and only made from MDF or similar (I've just checked with Mrs PP who's working at home) No strength to it at all.

But what is between the floor and the ceiling?

The wall directly above this stud wall is partition, and only made from MDF

to be consistent, you do mean "stub" of a wall dont you?

In which case, as TJ et al say above, cut the ceiling plasterboard away either side of the stub wall, do the same with the floor boards above and Im guessing the stub finishes in the floor void. Its possible the MDF partition is resting directly on the upper floor floorboards, or it may pass through the floorboards and rest on a little wallplate on the stub wall.

open it all up to check. Very easy to make good again - youd need to do some ceiling repair once you finsihed anyway.

I'd go for it.

A life without risk is a life not lived 🙂

dd - hijack - have you ever used liberon black bison liquid wax? (not on floors in this case)

The only way to be totally sure is to remove the ceiling next to it and physically make sure nothing is resting on it.

Ahh. I'd been holding back on that detail. Ceiling is already gone! This is how I know it's inline with one beam only!
I've had a close look and there appears to be plasterboard between the top of the wall and the ceiling too. Leading me to think the ceiling was put up then the wall constructed below it.

Also, out house was built in 1950, in the expansion after the war, and is made from poured concrete. Not precast. Not brick. Poured concrete. So this is a brick/block wall added after the shell was constructed, and I severly doubt it will be keyed into the concrete outer wall.

Firstly its a tradesmans job, and there are a lot of us having little work due to the DIY band out there.

I'm not paying anyone to something I can do for the price of a sledgehammer, sorry. I'll be fitting my own kitchen (Apart from the worktops) too. 🙂
I'm not new to heavy DIY. My first ever project was fitting an entire bathroom in our last house 🙂

to be consistent, you do mean "stub" of a wall dont you?

Sorry, yes I do. STUB.

Nope Stoner...only ever used their floor oil...and at that, only once or twice. It used to be really popular when oiling and waxing were two separate processes. The advent of Hardwax Oils has largely made it obsolete. What's your stuff for?

Liberon is a good brand though. They've been around for years.

if youve removed the ceiling, how can their be "plasterboard between the top of the wall and the ceiling too"?

Whats between the top of the wall and the floorboards/mdf partition on the upper floor?

dressing oak doors, skirting, architrave, banisters etc. Just to give bare wood a bit of nourishment and prevent finger marks.

I was wondering what the difference in effect would be between "neutral" and "clear" on oak? website's rubbish.

if youve removed the ceiling, how can their be "plasterboard between the top of the wall and the ceiling too"?

Because I haven't removed the wall, and I can see there's plasterboard still between it and the beam. Simples. 🙂

Let me have a look at their website...

Because I haven't removed the wall, and I can see there's plasterboard still between it and the beam

So from the ground up: wall > plasterboard> a void > 1st floor floor boards?

What's not to like - get thee thine hammer of doom!!* 😆

* - maybe

EDIT: That's not quite right is it - you're saying there is wall > plasterboard wedged between.... > floor beam > floor boards

so there's a beam sitting lengthways on top of a piece of plasterboard sitting on top of your stubby wall?

Anyway, enough playing Lionel Blair - is this Bob The Builder meets Give us Clue?

Take a photo! or three. with something in the picture for scale.

Yeah, you're right, the site is shit. Do you have a stockist nearby? Any reason you haven't looked at Osmo stuff? I've always used that for oak doors, skirting & architrave when I've fitted them. Lovely stuff. Easy to apply. Never once had a callback (honest 🙂 )

iPhone pic taken for kitchen planning purposes, so not ideal

[img] [/img]

You can see where the old boiler was, and above that was the flue I mentioned for the even older boiler than that one! You can see one beam inline with the wall, but it's resting on a long beam that runs the width of the house, as do all the others up there. You can just about see the plasterboard poking out too

Apologies for the state of the kitchen. It's a mess. But you can't make an omlette.... etc... 😉

you have building regulations approval for this right? if so your local building inspector will be able to look and tell you.

if there is beam resting on it i`d be reluctant to take it out. the beam may be holding up the floors above. the stub wall holding up the beam.

the plasterboard or other may be packing to get the beam at the right level.

there was probably a wall between your kitchen and diner which someone has removed in the past. the beam being the suppot for the floors over.

Any reason you haven't looked at Osmo stuff?

£25/L for door oil.

£50/5L for Liberon liquid wax. For floors, I would have gone with osmo or sikkens (using sikkens for all exterior stuff - CLS and Filter 7) for floor, but I just wanted a soft dressing oil not an uber special coating.

then again times are hard in the building trade - go nuts. someone will appreciate the work.

mark- your friendly civil engineer.

so there's a beam sitting lengthways on top of a piece of plasterboard sitting on top of your stubby wall?

Yup.
But as above, all the beams are also resting on another 'L-shaped' beam that runs the width of the house, from the back corner near the patio doors there, to the corner just to the left/rear of where I was standing when I took the pic.
If there was no beam above it, I wouldn't be asking this question 🙂

The more I think about it, the more inclined I am to buy a sledgehammer on the way home!

Firstly its a tradesmans job, and there are a lot of us having little work due to the DIY band out there.

If the tradesmans work isn't good enough to make people think they couldn't do better themselves and have a go for lower cost, maybe thats the reason? It's not brain surgery and while it does need some thought and knowledge, these are not hard to find and apply.

All the tradesmen I know (Ok, I only know 2) have more than enough work and generally only work 3 day weeks and have more spare cash than I do. I have no sympathy, sorry!

you have building regulations approval for this right? if so your local building inspector will be able to look and tell you.

No we don't. Why do we need it? How much does it cost? That sounds like a good way of getting a final answer to be honest.

I'm off home in 10 mins, I might take some better pics and post them up. 🙂

building control cannot advise on your building works. (they might give informal pointers from experience but that's not the same)

If the stub wall is not structural then you probably wont need any building regs. I cant see that pic on client site - but if the beam is using the wall for load, then youd probably be in the world of structural cals and then building reg notifications (if you are honest 😉 )

If the tradesmans work isn't good enough to make people think they couldn't do better themselves and have a go for lower cost, maybe thats the reason

I know some very good tradesmen. Plumber, sparky, plasterer, chippie. We've used them all recently. I have no qualms about employing someone when I can't do the job myself. But when you've just been quoted £3.5 - 4.5K for fitting a kitchen, and they expect you to sort the ceiling and remove the wall before they get there, you tend to baulk at it. Hence, I'm fitting the kitchen myself, doing the plumbing, the flooring, the decorating and have just removed the bannister in the hall (New newels & bannister we paid for to be fitted, but I'm finishing it off myself. 🙂

you may need to get a calc done on the minimum pier length required. if its only 100mm you may find the stub needs to be that long depending on the length of beam over.

whats at the other end of the beam? and how long is the span?. it may be required for stablity to the inner leaf of brickwork on the outside wall (if the loads are high) or be there to provide lateral stability for the other end of the beam.

depending on the arrangement of the floor over there may be roof loads coming down on the beam especially if it spans a long way.

for £150 go get a structural engineer, i

c

m probably in a differnt part of the world. then building regulations approval (£150). you will only need to do this later anyway when you sell the house. and then you will need to knock holes in things to show the authoritiies what bodging you did.

- but if the beam is using the wall for load

That's the point. I don't think it is. As I said above, ALL the beams in that ceiling are resing on another L-shaped beam that runs the width of the back of the house, bolted to the inside of the wall
And it seems the ceiling was constructed BEFORE this wall was built. So that would have been after the roof was put on, when everything was watertight, logically. Yes?

Off home now. Will do more pics. 🙂

the flooring

Flooring?

Did someone say flooring?